Lewis Capaldi: The Snuts explain why they will never collaborate with West Lothian pal Lewis Capaldi

The frontman of indie sensations The Snuts has revealed why the band will never collaborate with Lewis Capaldi – despite hailing from the same town in West Lothian.

The insight came as Jack Cochrane spoke with host Chris Difford – founding member of the band Squeeze – for the latest episode in a new, fourth series of the podcast I Never Thought It Would Happen, from the charity Help Musicians.

When talking about the band’s choice to continue to play smaller venues, despite their significant success, Jack says: “We could do that [play larger venues]. We could probably do an arena in Scotland, get a payday…that would be great, but that doesn’t feel like the reason we’re in a band.”

Instead, Jack says he and the band – which includes Callum Wilson, Joe McGillveray and Jordan Mackay – just want to “get everywhere” and love the “steps, process, and journey”.

The next stop for the band, who are currently riding high in the charts with latest album Millennials, is a significant one. The Whitburn outfit are heading for the USA, which Jack describes as “humbling” and like “starting again”.

To the surprise of some, The Snuts decided to part ways with Parlophone – the record label with whom they released their first two albums and enjoyed breakthrough mainstream success – to set up their own label, Happy Artist Records, for the release of their third and latest album in February. The move was aimed at putting the mental health of artists front and centre and avoiding the stress and pressure of being signed to a major label.

In the podcast, Jack explains how it is important for bands who want to survive to be aware of their wellbeing rather than treating life in a band like one big party. He reflects: “We need to be OK, we need to be healthy – that’s changed massively. Twenty years ago it wasn’t considered, so you saw these incredible artists burn out, and never be able to recover. That’s something we’re super aware of. For us, there’s a lot of exercise and healthy eating.”

Jack recognises that the idea of wellbeing and mindfulness is somewhat of a juxtaposition for a rock band: “It’s not necessarily what fans of rock and roll bands want to hear – they want that image of a band that goes for it all the time and parties hard. There is a mythology in how great that can be.”

Jack comes from the same town as global superstar Capaldi. When discussing Lewis, who the band know well, Jack is full of admiration, remarking: “Lewis is impressive in understanding the art of a song, and now he is past that and understands the art of a hit – something that most people never get near.”

Given they come from the same place, played all of the same pubs growing up, and know each other well, host Chris asked if he could see The Snuts and Lewis collaborating on songwriting. However, Jack believes that they “came from too similar an environment” to be able to work together. He says: “We were trying to be a rock and roll band. Lewis always wanted to be the pop star songwriter. He was never false about that. We were still trying to work out what we wanted to be.”

Help Musicians is a charity that supports musicians across the UK in times of crisis and opportunity – ensuring musicians across the UK can achieve their creative potential and sustain a career in music.

Find out more about Help Musicians’ services, or to make a donation to support its work, on the website www.helpmusicians.org.uk

The full podcast episode is available to listen to at all the major podcast providers or via this link – https://audioboom.com/posts/8480295-i-never-thought-it-would-happen-jack-cochrane